LSAT Score Preview and Score Cancellation: How Each Works

Without Score Preview, you may cancel within six calendar days after your test date. You make that decision blind, before scores are released, through the LSAT Status page of your LSAC account or by contacting LSAC directly. If you cancel on the last day, LSAC asks you to do it during business hours, because technical trouble after hours will not extend the deadline.

With Score Preview, the clock starts later. You receive your score on the regular release date and then have six calendar days to keep or cancel it. Once a score has been released without Preview, LSAC says it becomes a permanent part of your record and cannot be canceled.

LSAC lists two prices. Buying before the first day of testing for your administration costs $46; buying during the set period after testing costs $87. The cheaper deadline is the day before the first session of the administration, regardless of which day you personally test. Test takers with an approved LSAC fee waiver can add Score Preview at no charge.

If you decide only after walking out of the test, the later window opens the day after the last day of testing for your administration and closes at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on the Monday before score release. You buy Preview through your LSAC account after registering for the test, and it is available no matter how many times you have tested before.

The six days begin when your score is released to you, not on the published release date if your score is delayed. LSAC gives the example of a hold for a technical review: if your score reaches you two weeks late, your six days start then. The window closes at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on the sixth day.

Doing nothing is a decision. If you take no action before the window closes, the score is added to your file and released to the schools you have applied to. Put the deadline in your calendar the moment scores come out.

The consequences are identical whichever route you take. LSAC's Preview FAQ says a Preview cancellation is recorded as a Candidate Cancel, the same way an ordinary one is, and LSAC's scoring page confirms that your report to schools includes cancellations. Schools can see that you sat for the test; they cannot see the score you canceled.

Three more points are easy to overlook. There is no refund of the registration fee for a canceled score. A valid cancellation request is irreversible. And a canceled score counts against LSAC's limits on how many times you may take the test, whether you canceled blind or through Preview.

The worst time to make this call is when you are staring at a number you dislike. Write down your rule before test day, using questions like these.

LSAC can also cancel or withhold a score. Some of those cases work in your favor: if faulty test materials or similar circumstances beyond your control spoil a test, LSAC says it will notify schools and arrange a free retest on the next regular test date.

Others are avoidable. LSAC lists prohibited devices, working in the wrong section or past the time limit, and failing to follow proctor instructions as grounds for cancellation. One rule deserves special attention: if you do not check back in for the third section before the 10-minute intermission ends, the session ends and the score is canceled and recorded as a Candidate Cancel. On a retake, protect the attempt by knowing these rules cold.

Canceling is the wrong tool when your concern is accuracy rather than the number. LSAC offers an optional Score Audit after you receive your score, for $150, or $75 if you have been preapproved for a fee waiver. LSAC says its routine checks make scoring errors on computerized tests extremely unlikely, and an audit can move a score up or down; any change is reflected in the reports sent to schools.

In practice, an audit is worth considering only when you have a concrete reason to suspect a problem, such as a documented technical issue during your session. A result that simply feels low is better handled through Preview, if you bought it, or through your next attempt.

For most retakers the early $46 purchase is worth it as insurance, especially if a lower score would hurt at schools that average. It removes the need to guess about your performance within six days of testing and lets you decide with the actual number in front of you. The main argument against it is that a cancellation still uses an attempt and still appears, so Preview cannot erase a test, only its score.

Preview works best when your preparation makes a bad result unlikely. RetakePrep's review set, which collects every question you have missed, and its 100-question practice exam with a readiness score can supplement your LawHub practice as you get there.